Method and system for collecting and consolidating network traffic information

Abstract

A distributed network monitoring system includes a central monitoring device configured to fetch network traffic information from one or more remote monitoring devices in response to receiving a notification from the remote monitoring devices that the network traffic information is available, the remote monitoring devices being communicatively coupled to the central monitoring device. The network traffic information is associated with a timestamp which indicates a time period at which the network traffic information was collected by the remote monitoring devices. The central monitoring device further synchronizes the network traffic information from the remote monitoring devices by comparing the timestamp of the network traffic information with a system timestamp provided by a system clock or network time protocol (NTP) server. The network traffic information is identified as unavailable if the timestamp cannot be located when compared to the system timestamp. In addition, the central monitoring device starts a timeout wait period for the remote monitoring device with the unavailable network traffic information and further ceases collecting the network traffic information if the timeout wait period expires. The synchronized network traffic information is further consolidated to provide information regarding the overall performance of a network system.

1. A method for execution at a central monitoring device, comprising:
 fetchling network traffic information from one or more remote monitoring devices in a network; 
 synchronizing the network traffic information collected from the remote monitoring devices; 
 identifying available and unavailable network traffic information, based on an absence of expected reporting; 
 storing available network traffic information in a buffer; 
 starting a timeout period to await receipt of as yet unavailable network traffic information for each corresponding unavailable remote monitoring device; 
 ceasing collection of network traffic information from each unavailable remote monitoring device after expiration of each corresponding timeout period; 
 resuming collection of network traffic information from a previously unavailable one of the remote monitoring devices in response to receipt of a notification from the previously unavailable remote monitoring device indicating that some or all of the previously unavailable network traffic information is available; and 
 consolidating the network traffic information to provide information regarding the overall network performance. 
 
   
   
     2. The method of  claim 1 , including receiving a notification provided by the one or more remote monitoring devices that the network traffic information is available for fetching. 
   
   
     3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network traffic information is associated with a timestamp indicating a time period at which the network traffic information was collected by the remote monitoring devices. 
   
   
     4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the synchronizing includes comparing the timestamp of the network traffic information with a system time provided by at least one of a system clock or a network time protocol server to produce a system timestamp of the network traffic information. 
   
   
     5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the unavailable network traffic information is identified if the system timestamp of the network traffic information cannot be located when compared to the system time within an expected reporting interval. 
   
   
     6. The method of  claim 1 , including fetching the previously unavailable network traffic information and synchronizing the previously unavailable network traffic information with the available network traffic information in the buffer. 
   
   
     7. The method of  claim 1 , including marking network traffic information stored in the buffer as incomplete. 
   
   
     8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein fetching the network traffic information is based on one or more performance metrics, the performance metrics including one or more of: average delay from the remote monitoring devices to the central monitoring device, loads on the remote monitoring devices or the central monitoring device, and reliability of a path from the remote monitoring devices to the central monitoring device and available bandwidth of the path. 
   
   
     9. The method of  claim 1 , including resuming collection of network traffic information from a previously unavailable one of the remote monitoring devices in response to receipt of a notification from the previously unavailable remote monitoring device before the expiration of the corresponding timeout period, indicating that some or all of the previously unavailable network traffic information is available, and terminating the corresponding timeout period. 
   
   
     10. The method of  claim 9 , including fetching the previously unavailable network traffic information and synchronizing the previously unavailable network traffic information with the available network traffic information in the buffer. 
   
   
     11. A distributed network monitoring system, comprising a central monitoring device that is configured to:
 fetch network traffic information from one or more remote monitoring devices, 
 synchronize and consolidate the network traffic information to provide information regarding the overall network performance, 
 identify available and unavailable network traffic information based on an expectation of reporting, 
 store the available network traffic information in a buffer, 
 start a timeout period for each remote monitoring device associated with the unavailable network traffic information, 
 cease collecting network traffic information from each of the remote monitoring devices with unavailable network traffic information upon expiration of an associated timeout period, and 
 resume collecting network traffic information from any of the remote monitoring devices with previously unavailable network traffic information in response to receipt of notification that some or all of the previously unavailable network traffic information is now available. 
 
   
   
     12. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 11 , wherein the central monitoring device is configured to fetch the network traffic information from one or more remote monitoring devices in response to receiving a notification from the remote monitoring devices that the network traffic information is available. 
   
   
     13. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 12 , wherein at least one of the remote monitoring devices is configured to provide its associated notification according to a performance metrics, the performance metrics including one or more of: average delay from the remote monitoring devices to the central monitoring device, loads on the remote monitoring devices or the central monitoring device, and reliability of a path from the remote monitoring devices to the central monitoring device and available bandwidth of the path. 
   
   
     14. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 11 , wherein the network traffic information is associated with a timestamp indicating one or more time periods at which the network traffic information was collected by the remote monitoring devices. 
   
   
     15. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 14 , wherein the central monitoring device is configured to synchronize the network traffic information by comparing the timestamps of the network traffic information with a system time provided by at least one or more of a system clock or a network time protocol server to provide a system timestamp of the network traffic information. 
   
   
     16. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 15 , wherein the network traffic information is identified as unavailable if one or more of the system timestamps of the network traffic information cannot be located when compared to the system time associated with an expected reporting interval. 
   
   
     17. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 11 , wherein the central monitoring device is configured to fetch the previously unavailable network traffic information and to synchronize the previously unavailable network traffic information with the network traffic information stored in the buffer. 
   
   
     18. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 11 , wherein the central monitoring device is configured to mark network traffic information stored in the buffer as incomplete. 
   
   
     19. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 11 , wherein the central monitoring device is configured to the fetch the network traffic information based on one or more performance metrics, the performance metrics including one or more of: average delay from the remote monitoring devices to the central monitoring device, loads on the remote monitoring devices or the central monitoring device, and reliability of a path from the remote monitoring devices to the central monitoring device and available bandwidth of the path. 
   
   
     20. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 11 , wherein the central monitoring device is configured to resume collecting network traffic information from any of the remote monitoring devices with previously unavailable network traffic information in response to receipt, before the expiration of the timeout period, of notification that some or all of the previously unavailable network traffic information is now available, and terminating the timeout period. 
   
   
     21. The distributed network monitoring system of  claim 20 , wherein the central monitoring device is configured to fetch the previously unavailable network traffic information and to synchronize the previously unavailable network traffic information with the network traffic information stored in the buffer.